“I tried to think of something—anything—to calm my raging hard-on. One wrong move and Leah Mae would rub up against it and that was liable to kill me dead on the spot.” — Jameson BodineModel turned disgraced reality TV starlet, Leah Mae Larkin, crash lands in her hometown of Bootleg Springs to lay low while a scandal threatens her career. She can’t shake the feeling that her agent—and supposed … supposed fiancé—manipulated her into the role of made-for-TV homewrecker. Connecting with her roots is just what she needs, and Bootleg Springs is home to her father, moonshine, and her childhood best friend, Jameson Bodine.
Only there’s nothing childlike about Jameson—a man who turns scrap metal into art and isn’t afraid to throw down on a rowdy Friday night with his brothers and hellcat sister. He might not say much, but still waters run deep. Seeing the ring on his crush’s finger? He doesn’t like it, but he can’t wish it away. No more than he can wish away the trouble his family is in, with evidence pointing to his late father in the cold case disappearance of Callie Kendall.
Jameson and Leah Mae are just two friends reliving their summers together, blowing off steam, and having fun for the first time in a long time. But Leah Mae is realizing what’s really important in her life, and it isn’t what she thought.
And sometimes steam turns into sparks—hot as molten steel—and friends aren’t just friends.
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Jameson! Jameson! Jameson! Thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the remaining Bodine brothers finding love and seeing the Callie Kendall mystery solved! Well edited.
Jameson Bodine is a quiet man. He is an artist. And, he has a secret – his heart has really belonged to his childhood best friend for years. No one knows his secret – truthfully, he hasn’t even admitted it to himself. But, when Leah Mae Larkin drops into to town with a ring on her finger, Jameson can no longer hide from his feelings. Being the gentleman that he is though, he will suffer in silence, continuing to be the friend he has always been. Except no one can really hide anything from Jameson’s sister. She works to put Jameson and Leah Mae in close proximity, and really steps up her game when Leah Mae finally kicks her fiance/manager to the curb. As Jameson and Leah Mae reconnect as friends and then work their way towards more, outside drama rears it’s ugly head. Leah Mae was just on a ‘reality’ show that is portraying her in a less than flattering light. She has been living in Bootleg Springs in relative anonymity until the press gets wind of her whereabouts and new relationship. Overnight, Jameson has a spotlight on him and the accusations against his deceased father get national exposure. Somehow, the Bodine family must find a way to draw together, weather the storm, and help Jameson find his happily ever after. Will the Hollywood spotlight ruin Jameson and Leah Mae’s chance at love? Are we any closer to learning the fate of Callie Kendall?
I really enjoy this series, and am looking forward to the next 4 installments in Bootleg Springs. The characters are really fun and easy to relate to. This one really spoke to me – especially the lines “…sometimes we let go with the person we love the most because we know they’re safe. We know they are going to love us anyway.” How much we need that one person who will allow us to get mad, yell, let it all out, and then keep on loving us. May we all find that person! Enjoy!
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, huge fan of this series! Sidecar Crush is book #2 in the Bootleg Springs series and the story of Jameson Bodine and Leah Mae.
Jameson is the sweet, quiet type who keeps to himself and just works on his art. He’s thought about his friend, Leah Mae for years once she left Bootleg Springs for good when they were just kids. But now Leah is in town and Jameson is just not sure if he can lose his heart to her once more.
Leah Mae is back to spend time with her father and brought along her fiance/manager for the trip. While LA is nothing like Bootleg Springs, the town Leah once loved to visit hasn’t changed but the people she once knew sure did. Including the one boy who had her heart when they were kids, Jameson. Except now he’s all man and has her second guessing what path she needs to travel now.
I love this series. I love Jameson and Leah. I enjoyed how Leah finally grew into her own and finally did what SHE wanted to do. But the best part of the story? Jameson, hands down. I mean, I love a good alpha like the rest of them but Jameson was different. It was heartwarming to read a story about a truly nice guy who was just the most perfect gentleman, and I couldn’t get enough. I loved seeing the entire family fight yet stick together through everything handed to them and I cannot wait to find out exactly what happened to Callie Kendall!
Lucy Score and Claire Kingsley have truly taken the world of Bootleg Springs and put us all right there in the story with the Bodine family! Bring on book #3!
Bootleggin fun
This is book 2 of the bootleg springs series and I’m loving this town and the bodine family ! They are a close knit family that have their ups and downs but ultimately are always there for eachother .
The town has their own way of things that sometimes make you cringe and sometimes just makes you laugh but mostly make you fall in love and want to go and visit this old country town !
Jameson is an artist – making sculptures from scrap metal and Leah Mae is a model turned actress who’s returned home after a realty tv show went wrong . It’s a friends to lovers – kind of second chance romance with a hint of angst .
Really enjoyed it ! Looking forward to more bootleg springs !!
Returning home can be its own reward
Manipulated into appearing to be a homewrecker on national television, Leah Mae Larkin retreats to her small hometown of Bootleg Springs. She wants to escape everything and everybody, until she bumps back into Jameson Bodine. They need each other to escape their crappy lives. His life has turned into as much a bummer as hers after evidence has turned up implicating his late father in the disappearance years ago of Callie Kendall. Old friends reunite to become more than just friends, and before long, Leah Mae questions ever having left town in the first place.
Book two in the Bootleg Springs series. Full length told in dual POV, can be read, and enjoyed as stand-alone. Each book is about a different Bodine sibling with secondary characters the same throughout the series, there is also a small-town mystery theme that will not be solved until book six. Jameson & Leah Mae were childhood friends. I like Jameson’s quiet & artistic personality; he was perfect for Leah Mae. She found her home!!
Jameson Bodine is the next Bodine to find love in Bootleg springs. Though Jameson would rather live in the shadows and not draw attention to himself, with the murder investigation still going is hard to do. When Jameson’s childhood friend Leah Mae returns to town the spotlight on Jameson grows. This is such a great love story, Leah and Jameson “save” themselves and each other while also finding new direction! Love this series!
Jameson has to be one of my favorites of the crew and I was so excited for his story. This series is great and it is certainly binge worthy, which is what I’m currently doing. You will love every minute of this story so if you have not started reading yet…what are you waiting for?
She left Bootleg Springs at 16 as Leah Mae Larkin and returned years later as Leah Larkin, top fashion model and reality television star. Seeking only to rekindle a friendship she’s unprepared for just how gorgeous her best friend, Jameson Bodine, has become. Can a grade school friendship translate into an adult romance? Jameson is the quiet Bodine. A talented and successful sculptor who prefers his workshop to the limelight or being out in public.getting reacquainted with Jameson, visiting with her dad and avoiding social media are Leah Mae’s priorities. Being America’s most hated woman is tough on the ego and self confidence. Friendship definitely turns to more. Meanwhile the Bodines are still wrestling with the possibility that their father is connected to Callie Kendall’s disappearance.
When the ‘friend-zone’ line blurs, it can’t always be blamed on the world famous moonshine no matter how strong. Love is in the air in Bootleg Springs.
Still waters run deep indeed. Jameson Bodine had resigned himself to loving his childhood best friend from a distance. That distance being on the other side of the country from the West Virginia they both once called home. But then Leah Larkin comes for a visit. Game changer.
Jameson is such a sweetheart. Quiet, super talented artist and a gentleman to boot. Quite the devastatingly hormone wrecking combination. Leah didn’t stand a chance.
I liked how the authors showed her as having changed when she left Bootleg Springs but that the call to come home was strong. To coin a phrase “You can take the girl out of Bootleg but you can’t take Bootleg out of the girl”. Hollywood and self serving boyfriend try read hard. Man I didn’t like that guy!
Another awesome visit to the mountains of W Virginia. I enjoyed how the writing takes me right into the center of the community. I can feel the summer heat, smell the mountain air, taste down home cooking. That’s good writing.
I’d like to say the mystery is starting to unravel but really, it’s just getting started. Details come out. I have my own suspicion but I’ll wait to see how it plays out. I love the romance of these books but I’m a sucker for a good ‘who-done-it’.
Next in line to be bit by the love bug is Cassidy and Bowie and it’s about time these two make a move. The first two books really build the tension likes it’s foreplay. I can’t wait to see what sets off the spark that finally ignites them. Love this series!
What do you get when you mix a quiet artist struggling with media attention after his deceased father is a POI in a missing persons case with a bubbly outgoing reality tv star in a quirky small town in West Virginia? If you guessed a sweet, swoony romance, you’re right!
Jameson Bodine doesn’t like the spotlight. His father being a suspect in the disappearance of a teenage girl 10 years ago means there’s a lot of it and he isn’t thrilled. You’d think getting involved with the reality TV star returning to her hometown would be the last thing he’d want, but when it comes to Leah Mae Larkin, all bets are off.
These two lovebirds are finally in a position where they can confess their long-held feelings and make a go of it and they don’t hesitate to leap at the chance (literally, I’m talking a leap-out-of-a-car-in-the-middle-of-town kinda leap). Their story is one of passion, loyalty, and total devotion.
I am so in love with this series and ALL the characters!
Jameson is yet another delicious Bodine brother with all the charm and etiquette of the perfect, southern book boyfriend. He’s the strong and silent type. The bearded and sexy AF type. The creative artist type. And oh my goodness, he’s the ‘makes my body tingle’ type.
Leah Mae…left Bootleg Springs when she was 16, model/actress/reality star. It’s what she wanted most right? She comes back to visit her sick father, reconnects with Jameson, and the sparks fly. They were best friends growing up, and years of separation couldn’t stop their chemistry.
I love the protectiveness, not only from Jameson, but from the whole town! When one of their own is in trouble or in need, the way they all rally together to help out is admirable and sometimes very entertaining. #BootlegJustice
This small town romance keeps me smiling, laughing, swooning, and tingling in all the right places.
The Callie Kendall missing persons case is still ongoing, continuing to add mystery to this series.
I dove right into the next book.
Loved this second installment of Bootleg Springs series!! I wish I could visit Bootleg Springs for vacation. It’s such and adorable and quirky little town with great residents and so many fun activities to participate in. Can’t wait for the next book.
Jameson is precious and seeet and everything a country boy should be. I loved him. Leah Mae is not my fave for a heroine, and she took a little too long to realize some things but I did adore this book. This book is another quirky trip to Bootleg Springs that was thoroughly enjoyable. I’m addicted to this series and can not wait for the next book.
I absolutely LOVE the Bootleg Springs series by Lucy Score and Claire Kingsley! It is so freaking GOOD! I can hardly wait for the next book to see what this dynamic duo comes up with.
LOVE this series! So sweet, funny, sexy and smart! Jameson is my new favorite. He’s so sweet and deep and flawed, I love his artistic spirit and his introverted ways. Although Bowie seems like he might be a bit more mysterious, so he has me intrigued, and I absolutely adore the cute awkwardness that is June. I adore the whole bunch and am looking forward to more especially from the whole Callie mystery. I have my suspicions but I can’t wait to see what direction they take us in next!
Jameson Bodine is a confident man when it comes to his art and to those he loves. He’s the youngest of the Bodine boys, and he comes across as shy and sweet. But he has a quiet strength that will make you start to fan yourself!
Leah Mae Larkin spent childhood summers in Bootleg Springs with her best friend Jameson. When tragedy struck Bootleg Springs, Leah Mae was not allowed to continue spending summers there. Leah Mae has grown into a beautiful woman who is finding her chosen career falling apart. She returns to Bootleg Springs to see her I’ll father, and decides to stay for a bit to help nurse him. She brings her fiancé/boyfriend/agent Kelvin with her (well, drags is probably a better description).
Jameson and Leah Mae is a slow burn relationship that was meant to be. You’ll love the Bootleg Springs characters, especially Mona Lisa McNugget! And this is just Book 2 of the series! Book 1 was equally entertaining and, although not necessary to have read prior to this book, you’ll want to read it if you haven’t. There is a mystery which will run through each of the books that draws you in to working through to solve. With the way Claire Kingsley and Lucy Score plot, we will be very surprised to learn the truth! I’m eagerly waiting for the next book in this duo’s series!
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
It became clear to me after reading the latest book in the Bootleg Spring series; I need a Mona Lisa McNugget! That wise, bodyguard like chicken would be very handy to have around!
Let’s talk about the Bootleg Folks for a second, have you ever read a book that had you wanting to pack a bag, jump in your car and drive till you find a town like the one portrayed in the story?
That is me- from the very first page, well past the very last.
With the wide variety of characters to the down to earth ways of life, hot springs that cure all your ailments, and well the brooding, tough, overly protective Bodine brothers a firey take on the world sister I would want on my side. The humor and devotion of it all. (Hey, Bootleg Springs has strict punishments for @55holery in public, quite messy ). I am ready to relocate!
Since I have yet to find a place that I can have Mona Lisa McNugget, Hotsprings, excellent moonshine with decent neighbors, I am going to keep daydreaming through these wonderfully written, heart to heart, humor-laden, goosebump-inducing reads.
Claire Kingsley and lucy Score have written in such a way showcasing every detail, giving us clues to the next layer of the suspenseful mystery along with Jameson and Leah Mae’s fun, passionate, up and down romance.
I HIGHLY suggest checking out Sidecar Crush.
You won’t regret it!
Swooning over Jameson Bodine!
This second book in the Bootleg Springs Series, Sidecar Crush is nothing short of sweet, sexy, funny, and just oh-so-right! I voluntarily read an ARC of this book, and I loved it so much, I simply had to go back and purchase a copy for myself and a friend!
I’m just in love with everything Claire Kingsley writes. The woman is so good at providing readers with such amazingly swoonworthy heroes! Then to be co-writing this series with Lucy Score, I’m in “reader heaven”!
Jameson Bodine caught my eye in Book One, Lucy’s Whiskey Chaser, and getting to know more about him has been the absolute best! He’s strong, sweet, a talented artist, and adorably a little shy. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s worth hearing!
I love revisiting Bootleg Springs and experiencing some more of that “Bootleg Justice.” I’m also enjoying the slight thrill I get when the mystery of what happened to Callie is being discussed. Nothing like a little suspense. This series is getting so good, I can NOT wait for what’s to come next!
What a home run from Claire Kingsley and Lucy Score! This series is pure enjoyment! These two authors are writing the series together by each writing individual books. Their writing styles are so similar that I couldn’t really tell the difference in who was writing! This second chance romance was such a delight to read!
The Bodine family is a close knit group. I love the banter between the family and the way they stick together through thick and thin. Jameson is the quiet one in the bunch. He has loved Leah Mae ever since they were kids. When she comes back to town, he wants nothing more than to make her his. Leah Mae is a Hollywood starlet who has come back to town to see her dad. Their chemistry is all of the charts from the beginning and I was just biding my time until they figured out they were meant for one another.
Once again, we see the closeness of this family as they rally around Jameson to get his girl. The cast of characters is so much fun and such a lively bunch. I can’t think of a better group to spend time with. This series is off to a great start! These authors have created something epic that will live on in the hearts of so many. I can’t get enough of this town and the Bodine family! Magical! Bring on book 3!
Rating – All the stars!
“The breeze was soft on my face, and the sun sparkled on the water. It smelled like summer here, in a way no other place did. It reminded me of those magical summers I’d spent here. Reminded me of Jameson.”
Welcome back to Bootleg Springs! My bags are packed and I’m ready to go! I adore everything about it there. The physical location is beautiful, and the atmosphere is even better! I fell head over heels in Whiskey Chaser, and my love only grew through Jameson and Leah Mae’s story. This book had me laughing hysterically, tearing up, and cheering this couple on.
“This was warm summer sunshine and sweet tea all wrapped up in a pleasantly scruffy jaw, soft lips, and very capable strong hands.”
Jameson and Leah Mae were childhood best friends. However, when Leah Mae left Bootleg Springs behind, their relationship faded as well. No matter the distance, their memories remained. Upon her return, will they be able to pick up where they left off, or are they destined for so much more?
I adore Jameson Bodine! He is sweet and sexy and all kinds of adorable. He is a gentleman through and through, but he also brings the heat. *sigh* His first kiss with Leah Mae is second to none. Always the strong, silent type, Jameson prefers to lay low, but when his childhood friend, celebrity Leah Mae returns to town he is no longer invisible. This couple has many obstacles to overcome, both on their own and together, but as long as they have each other, they’ll be okay, right?
Leah Mae is at a crossroads in life. Her career is crumbling, her relationship is on the rocks, and she lacks roots. Returning to Bootleg Springs breathes new life back into her soul…or was that just Jameson? I love Leah Mae. She is a gorgeous, fun-loving, girl who isn’t above getting a bit dirty. When Leah Mae arrives on the scene, she brings Kelvin with her. Kelvin, her agent/boyfriend is the character you will love to hate. However, he provides just the right mix of comedy and angst for the story.
Together, Jameson and Leah Mae are perfect. They truly bring out the best in one another. They have each other’s backs, and see each other for who they truly are. Watching the transformation from friends to lovers was delicious. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the slow burn to boil over. And when it did, it did not disappoint!
One of the truly remarkable things about this series is the amazing flow between books even though they are written by two different authors. I am truly in awe of the fact that Claire Kingsley and Lucy Score are able to write dialogue for the same characters so flawlessly! The characters (even Mona Lisa McNugget) are completely true to form from Whiskey Chaser.
You will adore this book! It has everything. Comedy, love, a little angst, family, and more hints on the mystery of Callie’s disappearance. My only complaint was that it, like all things, had to come to an end. I could read about Bootleg Springs forever! I can’t wait to see who is next!